Are they old timers, are they playing today, do they have any affliation with SC? Do they have an ax to grind against SC, did they play under Helton? Did they play under Carroll or Sark or Kiffin? Heck, I talk to former nfl players as well and they say nice things about SC.

But see, I did the same thing that you did and that sounds stupid because I did not back it up with when they played. You don’t have to name names, but you have to give details on why they said this.

Amen. I started reading this blog because All the other USC football bloggers seemed to ‘predict’ that sc would win 10+ games and get a rose bowl or cfp invite. I knew it was BS last offseason when we still had Helton and none of the bad assets that left with darnold, but their optimism had me thinking maybe 7 wins was realistic.

We know stuff’s bad right now, but all of these quotes badmouthing the coaches and administrators with zero reference to their position in the program or if they might have some sway to get things moving. Give us more info! You don’t have to throw players or boosters under the bus, but you can be less vague

Very funny, karma.
My guess is, knowing we’re stuck with Helton for the time being, Pudly doesn’t want to see things deteriorate to the point where every time the Coach’s name is mentioned on this site, people shake their head and laugh. Scott has a hardcore fan base that interacts with the university —and to a lesser extent— with the players. Pudly is probably worried that Scott’s gonna poison Helton’s well to the point that no one will take him seriously. I think that’s a mature, responsible concern. The problem is —the ship has sailed. Helton’s “deal” is that he talks kindergarten ‘happy talk’ when asked about the program-ending problems he’s confronted with (or, in some cases, created). You can get away with that kind of hucksterism for only so long before you lose the confidence of players and fans. It now seems like more than a few players have seen through the Helton act —at least, they played like it in 2018. And they’ll probably play like it in 2019, too.

I’d say this story has a real ring of veracity….all of us in whatever profession we’ve chosen discuss that which we know with fellows of the same choice of work and, invariably, it usually turns to a topic that is timely and interesting i.e. job sites, organizations, companies, of similar bent that we both know that are suddenly ‘cratering’.